MS-13 animals? Trump charges half of immigrant-headed homes ‘use one or more welfare program’

by WorldTribune Staff, May 18, 2018

Responding to President Donald Trump’s critics on immigration policy, the White House said that “a vast array” of immigrants rely on government benefits “paid for by U.S. taxpayers.”

Citing Census Bureau data, the White House noted that “roughly half of all immigrant-headed households use one or more welfare program.”

Census data show the U.S. has permanently resettled over 10 million immigrants (10,743,014) since 2008, including nearly half a million foreign nationals (478,325) who were admitted as visa lottery winners, and over 7 million foreign nationals (7,756,985) who were admitted on the basis of family ties, the White House said. Another 11.3 million entered illegally.

“Our expansive humanitarian-based, family-based, and lottery-based immigration system fails to consider the needs of American workers and taxpayers, who have been burdened by decades of low-skilled immigration that has suppressed wages, fueled unemployment, and strained federal resources,” the White House said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Thomas Homan added that sanctuary cities are hurting immigrant communities.

Homan slammed “the intentional mis-messaging of sanctuary cities and what they do. I hear, ‘They protect the immigrant communities.’ And they don’t. It’s the complete opposite. When you release a criminal alien from a jail, they’re going to go to the very communities in which they live and re-offend. Anybody can Google recidivism rates. Over half re-offend the first year against the very immigrant communities in which they live.”

And to critics of his actions and those of his officers, he said, “The next time you think about vilifying the men and women of ICE, I want you to do what I did this week. I want you to go to our National Law Enforcement wall, I want you to walk that wall, and read the names on that wall: over 400 Border Patrol agents and ICE officers whose hearts stopped beating defending this nation. It’s a dishonor to these men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice to vilify the men and women that carry the badge and gun.”

Meanwhile, the Federalist said in a May 18 report that the mainstream media chose to defend the MS-13 gang instead of acknowledging its misleading reporting on Trump’s comments that the brutal gang is comprised of “animals.”

This is a gang with the motto, “kill, rape, control,” the report noted.

CNBC’s John Harwood tweeted that “however repugnant their actions, MS-13 gang members are human beings IMHO.”

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin went further, saying “Even if he was referring to the tiny percentage of immigrants who commit crimes,” calling any human being an “animal” to her is “repulsive.”

Will Wilkinson, who is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and a columnist for Vox, believes “every member” of MS-13 is “human” and that they have “dignity that demands respect.”

And even though the president and others in the administration made it clear that Trump was speaking of the MS-13 gang, Democrats pounced on the opportunity to insist Trump meant all immigrants.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, tweeted: “Immigrants are not ‘animals.’ The president’s statement was deeply offensive and racist. Immigrants are our family and friends and they make significant contributions to our country.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, said: “So when the president of the United States says about undocumented immigrants, ‘These aren’t people, these are animals,’ you have to wonder, does he not believe in the spark of divinity, the dignity and worth of every person? Calling people animals is not a good thing.”

Caleb Howe, in an op-ed for USA Today, was one of the few in the mainstream media to back the president over MS-13.

“The documentation of the gang’s brutality is long and horrifying. Murder, torture, rape, dismemberment, mutilation,” Howe wrote. “These are heinous acts, and we’re meant to know it. They are committed for that reason, to shock and terrorize, silence and warn. MS-13 means for you to be repelled and horrified.

“Calling the people who commit these acts ‘animals’ doesn’t dehumanize them. Their actions dehumanize them. Whatever you think about the president, it’s not responsible or reasonable to object when the president tells the truth about a brutal street gang.”


Subscribe to Geostrategy-Direct __________ Support Free Press Foundation

You must be logged in to post a comment Login